Charming the Shadows
by Ryzxn
Summary: Title Subject to Change. Continuation of the series. Seth still owes something to the Singing Sisters and time is running out. His only help is his "mentor" and a talking cat. Meanwhile, Kendra and everyone back at Fablehaven has to save the world. Again.
1. Chapter 1: Mentors and Problems

**Hey guys. So yup, I'm adding another story to my list of things I need to update. **

**Right. So another Fablehaven FF... This should be good.**

**I'm writing this time basically because my mother, my friends, and myself all want to know what happened to Seth and his quest for the Singing Sisters.**

**Honestly, I'm going to _try_ to get things right, but at the moment, my friend has the fifth book of Fablehaven (She's borrowing it and hasn't read it before)... And I don't have some of the names or and stuff memorized. Heh. I really should re-read the series... e.o;...**

**Right, so this will mostly be an introductory Chap... and I'll try and make it legit and stuff... xD**

**XXX**

**So, for future reference,**

**I do NOT own anything from Fablehaven. Brandon Mull does. **

**Only going to say that once because writing it at the beginning of each chapter gets a little tedious. (And I forget, sometimes.) If you need it stated, just waddle back here and re-read it.**

**XXX**

"I can't believe this," Seth muttered as he paced by the pool in the backyard of the Fablehaven mansion. He could hear the irritation in his own voice. "We save the preserve multiple times and save the world, but we still have to have mentors? There are many errors in this logic!"

"Since when were you an expert on logic?" Kendra replied coolly. She sipped some lemonade from a glass with lots of ice in it. Kendra sat at an outside table with an umbrella over it for shade near the pool. "It's so hot out here," she complained.

"Well. It's definitely not because of you," Seth retorted.

"Keep telling yourself that and you might just believe it."

"Any comeback that comes from you is rendered invalid." Seth stopped pacing and sat in the other chair at the table. He picked up his own glass of lemonade and drank from it.

Kendra scowled at her brother. A fairy fluttered up to her and chirped in her ear, interrupting her display of displeasure at Seth's words. Kendra turned to the fairy. They conversed for a moment in Silvian, then Kendra laughed. The fairy flitted away.

It was Seth's turn show his displeasure. "How do you manage to have a civilized conversation with those things?"

Kendra turned to her brother and rolled her eyes. "You're just holding a grudge against them because they turned you into a walrus. No, not even a real walrus... Some we-"

"I get it!" Seth watched a few fairies study themselves in the reflective water of the pool. "I'm just saying... They are so shallow. I don't get how you can be friends with them. I think a few of them deserve to be locked up in a jar."

"Seth-" Kendra broke off as Seth reached for his glass of lemonade. Just before his fingers touched the glass, a stream of white light hit the lemonade. The glass shattered into millions of bits, small, sharp pieces showering on Seth.

"Ouch!" Seth yelped as a few bits of glass embedded themselves in his fingertips. He picked out the glass, causing his fingers to bleed. One of the fairies from the pool chirped angrily at Seth. Seth glared as he sucked on his fingers, trying to stop the bleeding.

Kendra winced.

"What did she say?" Seth asked, examining his wounds before sticking his finger back in his mouth.

"Uhm..." Kendra laughed nervously. "She said something about you being locked up in a jar... and then something about your clothes and a walrus... And... "

"Never mind," Seth said, peering at the wounds on his fingertips that had now stopped bleeding. "I get her point. Actually." He waved his hand in the air and his voice rose. "I got about 5 points. All stuck in my hand."

"Well, at least fairies can't dampen your spirits. You can always make a joke, even if they did just threaten to kill you."

"Only if they make it rain."

"Rain? ...What?" it took Kendra a moment to get the pun. "Oh." She sighed. "Really, Seth?"

"Really." Seth grinned at her. He turned his gaze to the driveway at the distant sounds of a car approaching. "Our trainers are here," he said grimly.

Kendra got up and walked towards the driveway, but Seth stayed sitting where he was. He wanted to put off meeting his mentor for as long as possible.

Seth waited. He heard voices a little ways off. Then, Kendra walked back to him.

"They want to meet you," she announced. Kendra grabbed his arm and dragged Seth towards the driveway.

"Hey, Seth!" Bracken called from behind the SUV as he pulled a couple of bags of luggage from the back of the car. "Haven't gotten yourself killed, yet? That's good."

Seth managed a smile for the unicorn that rarely got to visit the preserve. "Hey, Bracken. Nope, not dead yet."

"Unfortunately," Kendra added. "It would spare us all of his bad jokes."

"My jokes are not bad," Seth retorted. "You all just have a lack of understanding for good humor."

"Did he eat a dictionary or something?" Bracken asked. He opened the back doors of the SUV.

"Why would I-" Seth abruptly stopped talking as two girls and a cat got out of the car. Two thirteen-year-old or so girls and an orange-furred cat.

"Thank you, Bracken," one of them said. The strange thing was, it was the cat that spoke.

"A talking cat. That's not weird at all."

"Your welcome, Karen," Bracken replied. "And Seth, technically, I'm a talking unicorn... So what's the big deal?"

"You're human."

"I'm human, too," Karen said. "Well, partly human."

Seth nodded. "I'm just going to leave it at that." He glanced at Kendra. "You're not phased by this at all?"

"Nope. I'm used to weird things. I live with you, remember?"

"Thank you for your support on this matter, my dear sister," Seth grumbled.

The two girls laughed softly. "So, Bracken, these are our students?"

Bracken nodded.

"Wait, what?" Seth looked from Bracken to the two girls. "You mean _they_ are our mentors? You're telling me two girls that are _younger_ than me are going to teach me things? Again! Errors in this logic!"

"I think we should x-ray his stomach. I'm really worried he ate a dictionary. Well, more worried for the dictionary than him. He seems fine," Bracken noted.

"I did not eat a dictionary!" Seth shouted in exasperation.

Everyone but Seth laughed. Even Karen the orange cat purred in amusement.

Seth glared at all of them.

One of the girls stepped forward. She was a little taller than the other. She wore a simple blue shirt and jean shorts. Her eyes were clearly blue, but not fake blue, like the contacts. They looked genuinely bright blue. She had semi-short black hair that ended just past her shoulders.

"Hello, Seth, Kendra." The girl smiled. "My name is Lana. I'm going to be Kendra's trainer. Or mentor. Whatever my title is."

"I think we should get official titles that are really fancy and epic and stuff that makes us seem all smart," the other girl said.

"_Seem?"_ Seth muttered. "You mea-"

The other girl interrupted him. "My name is Wyn. I'm going to be your trainer, Seth." She studied him with lime green eyes and stood with one hand on her hip. Her hair would have reached to the end of her shoulder blades had it not been pulled back into a ponytail with only her bangs loose. She wore a simple light-green tank top and white shorts.

"Well, I think that's all for introductions," Bracken noted.

"Yup," Lana confirmed. Then she added, "We'll take our bags, Bracken."

Bracken almost let the relief show on his face, but he didn't. "You sure?" he said. "They _are_ pretty heavy."

"We'll get them," Lana replied, smiling.

"I can't help but notice you say 'we' like you mean both you and I, Lana. I am _not _carrying those things," Wyn said. She waved her hand at Karen. "Cat. Karen. Carrot. Whatever, You carry them." As an afterthought, she added, "Please." Wyn began walking towards the house.

Lana and Karen shared a glance. They both rolled their eyes simultaneously. Lana picked up her luggage and followed Wyn. The bags were huge, and had looked heavy, but Lana picked them up like they were as light as a piece of paper.

Karen stalked up to Wyn's bag. She sniffed it. Then sneezed.

"You want me to get it, Karen?" Bracken offered.

"I got it," the orange cat replied. She took a few steps back, then, with a determined look on her face, leaped at the suitcase. She hit it was a force that knocked it over, but the cat herself was unfazed. She studied her work for a moment, then turned to Bracken. "Can you put the others on top of this one?"

Bracken looked from the cat, to the 3 suitcases worth of luggage. "Alright," he said a little dubiously. He picked up the other two bags and placed them on top of the first.

Karen then dug her teeth into the handle of the bottom suitcase. She proceeded to tug the luggage towards the house, walking backwards. The orange cat made remarkable pace, despite being a cat and despite having to walk backwards.

Bracken, Kendra, and Seth followed the cat.

"So what's the cat for...?" Kendra asked Bracken.

"Not sure. Extra passenger. That's about it."

Karen was good until she got to the porch. She stopped and stood still, making a little cat-panting noise. "Right. Wyn can get the rest. Well. She'll either bring this up to her room, or come down here and live on the front porch. Either one works, though the latter is more likely."

"Hmm?" Wyn said as she opened the front door. "I heard my name?"

Bracken made a choking sound that Seth deciphered as his attempt at trying not to laugh.

"I was telling them how good you are at playing video games," Karen lied.

Wyn raised her eyebrows. "She was?"

Seth started to reply no, but then hastily nodded his head. "Yeah, she was telling us how good you are at everything."

"Well, not _everything,"_ Wyn said. "I'm bad at playing Mage characters. Archery, Warrior, and anything else. Magic, nope."

"Yet," Kendra noted. "You're Seth's mentor... And you're on a _magical_ preserve..."

Wyn glared. "It's a game. I never said I wasn't good at magic in the real world, Kendra. You don't want to be on my bad side."

"Right." Kendra looked slightly shaken, but nothing she wouldn't recover from.

"The irony of that statement..." Seth muttered.

"Indeed," Wyn replied. She turned to Karen.

"Hoy. Cat. Bring my stuff inside."

"No,"" Karen replied and waltzed inside, tail held high.

"No? Kareeeennnnn!" Wyn drew out the name as she whined. "Pleasssseee?"

"No," Karen stated.

Wyn pouted and turned to Bracken. "Bracken, Can yo-"

"Don't get it for her," Lana said, suddenly standing in the doorway. "Make her stop being lazy and drag it to her own room. Or just let her live out here."

Wyn crossed her arms. "Fine. I'll just stay outside."

"Fine by me," Lana said and walked back into the house, leaving the door open. She called over her shoulder, "You guys might want to come inside. Stan wants... Something."

Kendra and Seth shared a glance. "This can't be good," Seth muttered.

"You won't find out if you don't go," Bracken pointed out.

"You aren't staying?" Kendra asked, sounding a little sad.

"I wasn't planning to stay for long. The Fairy Queen wants me back home... Working on this and that." Bracken said it casually, but his eyes told a different story. He really wanted to stay.

Before anyone could come up with a response to that, and before Bracken could turn to leave, Karen appeared in the open doorway. "He wants you, too, Bracken. Told me to come tell you that." Then, Karen turned back into the house. The open door closed magically behind her.

"Cats closing doors..." Seth muttered.

Bracken looked at Kendra and shrugged. He walked into the house. Kendra followed, leaving Seth and Wyn the only ones outside.

To avoid a moment alone with his new mentor, Seth walked hastily inside. He heard Wyn sigh behind him and follow.

"Seth! Wyn!" Stan called from the dining room. Seth followed his voice.

Inside the room, everyone was seated at the long dining table. Stan sat at the head of the table, and Ruth sat in the seat next to his. Vanessa and Warren sat next to each other on the other side of Stan. Kendra sat next to Ruth and Bracken next to Kendra.

Everyone else was seated at various spots along the table.

Warren motioned for Seth to sit in the empty chair next to him. Seth walked around the table and sat. Wyn sat next to Seth, which automatically made Seth believe this was going to be a meeting with bad news.

Stan clapped once to get everyone's attention. He stood, cleared his throat, and looked over the gathered people.

"Alright. Everyone... The first thing I address at this meeting is Seth and Kendra's new mentors. Wyn, Lana, please stand," Stan started.

Wyn and Lana stood from their places.

"Lana is going to train Kendra and Seth is to be trained by Wyn," Stan announced.

"Meow," Karen said from the other end of the table, where she was sitting in the end chair. She just wasn't visible.

"Oh. And that's Karen over there. She's a talking cat. We aren't exactly sure how that happened," Stan continued.

"She's also stronger than a normal cat," Wyn added.

"You would know..." Seth muttered, not loud enough for Wyn to hear. Warren, however, did hear and turned his laugh into a cough.

"Moving on," Stan said. Wyn and Lana sat back down. "Seth."

Seth looked up at his grandfather.

"Its almost been a year since the Zzyzx was closed and you still owe something to the Singing Sisters. An item of their request."

"They haven't contacted me," Seth protested.

"Well, there's only 2 months until a year has passed since you've seen them. They will contact you before then. Be prepared. That's another reason we got you a mentor."

"Right," Seth muttered.

"Thirdly," Stan continued. "Kendra, have you given any thought to becoming an Eternal?"

Kendra looked down at her lap.

"I know you still have another year to think about it, but it's a tough decision," Stan said.

Kendra nodded.

"Finally..." Stan started. He took a deep breath. "We believe someone is trying to reopen the Zzyzx. Before the Enternals are in place and before the secrets of the artifacts' locations can be shrouded in myth."

**XXX**

**Right. So I know that's a pretty cliche ending/plot... But I need something for Kendra to do while Seth saves his own butt from the Singing Sisters... Not to mention, it's actually vital to the end of the story. **

**So. Thanks for reading. **

**I might not update for a while because I need to re-read the fifth book, at least, before I really get into the plot. I don't want to mess up something important and have to go back and fix everything. **

**Anyway.**

**Review? Reviews are nice... **

**Thanks for reading again!**


	2. Annoying Orange Cat And Wyn's Phone

**Okaay~**

**So I still haven't reread the fifth book. . . But I'd like to get on with this. At least make another filler chap. **

**Oh. And I'm changing the breaks in all my stories. . . **

**So, new break!**

**. . . **

Seth glared at the orange cat. "This. Is. My. Bed," he huffed. "Get out, will you?"

"Meow?" Karen replied and buried herself in the sheets on Seth's bed in the attic.

"Don't try to act cute. It doesn't work on me," Seth said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Cute only works on Kendra."

"Which is why I never do what you want," Kendra said, walking into the room. She peered at Seth for a moment. "Why are you talking to a pile of sheets?"

"I'm not?"

"Then why are you. . . Conversing with. . . the spirits?" Kendra called Seth crazy for the second time, only using different words.

He scowled at his sister. "It's Karen," he complained. "She's. . . Using my bed for a place to catnap. I don't' want orange fur all over my sheets!"

"Too late," Karen mewed happily from under the covers.

Kendra walked over and looked at the sheets. She poked the pile that Karen was under and the cat changed position. Her tail flicked out from under the pile and she swished it around a bit.

Seth reached for her tail, but before he could touch it, Karen said, "Don't make me bite you."

Seth pulled his hand back slightly. Then he quickly picked up the whole pile of sheets with Karen tangled in the center and walked away from the bed. Karen yowled in protest and pushed her nose out of the pile. Then she bit Seth's hand.

"Ow!" Seth exclaimed and dropped the pile on the ground. "What was that for?"

"Take off your shirt. . ." Kendra muttered, but she seemed to think Seth couldn't hear her.

Seth gave her an incredulous look that said, _are you nuts?_

Kendra looked up, shrugged, rolled her eyes, then walked out of the room, leaving Seth to deal with his own orange-cat problems.

"Why'd you drop me?" Karen retorted. "Actually, why'd you pick me up in the first place?"

Seth turned to the cat under the pile of sheets. "You were invading my bed! Why else would I randomly pick you up, you bed-invading cat?"

"Is that why I'm tangled up in sheets?"

"What?" Seth glared at the pile as Karen nosed her way out of the tangled mess. "You've got to be joking. Don't play dumb with me, cat, or I'll-"

"It was Wyn," Karen suddenly cut Seth off.

"What?" Seth repeated.

"It's Wyn. . ." Karen restated. "She has this-" the cat sneezed, then continued, "-weird 'static,' I guess you could say, that emanates from her when she's using anything electronic. It projects her personality onto nearby people – and cats, apparently."

"So, wait," Seth said. "Wyn puts out this static thing that takes over people's personalities?"

"Something like that."

"Then why didn't it affect me?"

Karen sat on the floor and began washing her paw. "It usually only affects non-magical beings. Like me. . . Well, I'm kind of magic, but I'm part cat. I guess it lowers my 'ranking,' so to speak."

"Okaaaaay," Seth said. "That's not weird at all."

"You'll come to find we are a very exotic trio," Karen said. Then, content with the washing she'd given her paw, she walked out of the room.

"Where are you going now?" Seth growled. "You haven't explained why you don't remember anything. . . Or maybe you were playing dumb?"

"I was asleep. Anytime someone's asleep and they are affected by Wyn's static, they don't remember anything."

"I thought I was supposed to be trained by a Shadow Charmer, not a Narcoblix," Seth mumbled, partly to himself.

"You are," the orange cat replied, now walking down the stairs to the living room. "But each Shadow Charmer is different, unlike most of the Fairykind."

Seth perked up. "So I'm special? I mean, compared to Kendra?"

"Probably," Karen called from the bottom of the stairs.

Seth started after her so he'd be able to hear the cat.

"Most people who are Fairykind tend to have similar abilities. . . Whereas Shadow Charmers? No tellin' what powers they have."

"Yes!" Seth cried. "Take that Kendra!"

"What?" Kendra asked, walking into the living room.

"Nothing," Seth replied innocently.

"I'm watching you," Kendra replied, glaring at him.

"Not as much as I'm watching you, Babe," Seth replied coolly, just to tick his sister off.

"Whooooaaaa." Bracken came in the room with his hands raised like a policeman was holding him at gunpoint. "Whoa. Whoa. Do I want to know?"

"That sounds like some good song lyrics," Karen muttered. Then she began experimenting with the 'song lyrics' and different tunes.

Kendra smacked her brother on the arm, then stomped out of the room. "No," she said angrily, stalking back in. "You don't want to know." Then she grabbed Bracken by the arm and dragged him with her.

"Help. . . ?" Bracken whimpered as the door closed behind him.

"You're on your own, Bro," Seth mumbled.

Then, Seth's butt vibrated. Well. . . His pocket.

"You gonna answer that?" Karen asked, giving up on the song lyrics.

"I don't have a phone," Seth protested. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small, sliver rectangle.

"You're a bad liar," Karen said.

"I don't have a phone! I swear!"

Suddenly, Wyn's voice rang out from the room she was using. "What the heck happened to my phone?"

Seth glanced at the object in his hand, then at the door to Wyn's room. It opened, revealing the other Shadow Charmer. Her room was dark behind her, illuminated only by a laptop sitting on her bed, and Wyn squinted in the light of the hallway.

"My phone," she said, then snatched the object out of Seth's hand. Wyn turned, with Seth following her to her door, then shut it in Seth's face.

"Wait a minute!" Seth cried. "Wyn! How the heck did your phone get in my pants?"

"EWWW!" Wyn screamed from the other side of the door. There was a _thunk_ sound that Seth assumed was her phone hitting the floor or wall.

"That's not what I meant!" Seth yelled at the door. Then it opened and the phone flew out, nearly missing Seth's head. The door was about to slam in Seth's face again, but he stuck his foot out, stopping the door.

"Hey!" Wyn complained, trying to close the door by slamming it on Seth's foot.

"Ow?" Seth replied.

"Your pants kidnapped my phone; now I need a new one. Get out," Wyn retorted.

"Not until you tell me how they got in my _pocket_."

"I'm gonna. . . Go take a catnap," Karen muttered, walking away.

"It, uhm," Wyn fumbled for a reply, "Walked to take a vacation?" She opened the door a little to peer at Seth through the crack.

Seth crossed his arms and glared at Wyn. "Oh, and while I'm here," he said, sounding annoyed, "That cat was being a jerk earlier. Apparently your personality rubbed off on her."

"Oh, thank you," Wyn grumbled. "I can't control that stupid static stuff. It does it on it's own."

"Yeah, actually, you can control it. If you didn't play video games."

Wyn gasped. "Watch what you say, boy," she said, a dangerous undercurrent to her voice.

"Boy?" Seth said, his voice rising in laughter. "I'm older than you."

Wyn growled, and suddenly the hallway went dim. Seth had to leap away from the door as it opened and Wyn sent a tiger-tail kick flying for his ribs.

"Whoa!" Seth said, putting up his hands. "I just meant to relax on the video games, 'kay? I actually want to be able to sleep on my bed without getting pushed off by an orange cat."

Wyn glowered at Seth and the hallway returned to it's normal lighting. "We start training tomorrow. After two weeks, we're going on your quest. We continue training then, too," Wyn informed Seth, standing with superiority and her hands on her hips.

"Right," Seth replied. "What does that have to do with your phone in my pocket?" Seth bent down slowly, in fear of being kicked again, and picked up the phone. Amazingly, it wasn't cracked or broken at all.

"Oh, right," Wyn said, "my phone." She grabbed the item from Seth's grasp and flounced back into her room.

"Wait! Wyn! Dangit!"

Seth sighed, exasperated.

"I'm starting to wonder," Vanessa said, startling Seth as she suddenly appeared as if conjured up from nowhere. "If having a mentor will help you, or just influence you in a bad way. . ."

Seth leaned against the wall. "Probably the latter," he muttered.

**. . . **

**Right. That took a little longer to get done than I thought it would, but eh. . . **

**Anyway, I'll update Gamehaven next. ^^**

**Thanks for reading, and review!**

**I like reviews. . .**


	3. Mature People Have Patience and Leopards

**That awkward moment when you forget what the plot of your story was.**

**So, yeah. Anyway, here's another chapter of Charming the Shadows. I'll keep the number of words in my author's notes and number of Mortal Instrument references to a minimum. 3**

**. . . **

Seth watched a few fairies flutter about in the garden. It was a cool day – a thick layer of clouds covering the sky – and he was grateful he wasn't standing in unrelenting sunlight as he waited for his mentor. Despite the clouds that hinted at oncoming rain, it was still quite humid, and Seth would've rather been with Newel and Dorren out in the forest where it tended to be cooler than waiting on Wyn, who seemed to be determined to make Seth wait an hour before she even got ready to start training.

Seth heard a door close behind him, and, turned, he saw Wyn finally make her appearance. "Where were you?" he huffed.

"I was teaching you a little thing we mature people in the world call patience," Wyn replied, digging her phone out of her pocket and glancing at it. She left it sitting on a chair on the porch.

"'Mature?! Why you– " Seth was cut off.

"Have Lana and Kendra left already?" The question seemed to fly out of nowhere.

"Yeah," Seth replied, getting a hold on his annoyance. "About half an hour ago."

"Good. Stan and Dale are off visiting some various parts of the preserve with Hugo, Warren and Vanessa are in town for the day, and Ruth is shopping. Bracken's having a visit with his mother for the afternoon." She smiled sweetly at him. It was a smile that had wicked intentions hidden behind it. "You know what that means?"

Seth blinked at her.

"We have the whole place to ourselves."

"Nearly," Karen said, walking out of the door Wyn had left open and closing it with a powerful backwards cat-hind-leg kick. "What disasters do you have planned, huh, Wyn?" The orange cat continued with a yawn. She sat on the porch and began washing her paw. Again.

"Nothing," Wyn replied quickly. "But I figured we could see if he could project. Should be fun to test on the others when they get back, right?" She smiled innocently at the cat.

"Fine," Karen said, "But if you dare use it on me, especially from behind a door, I will claw your eyes out. Scaring the living poop out of your talking cat is not considered training under _any_ circumstances. And if they ask, I'm not lying for you."

"Fine." Wyn said, seeming a little put out that she couldn't use whatever they were supposed to be learning on Karen.

She turned to Seth. "How good are you at shade walking?"

"Excellent, I should like to think. It's one of the things I've known for a while." Seth neglected to say it was practically all he knew.

"Show me."

"There's no shadows here," Seth said, looking around for something that cast a decent amount of shade.

"It's cloudy, it shouldn't be too hard. Go try under that umbrella." Wyn pointed to the umbrella Kendra liked to lounge under.

"Uh, alright." Seth walked over to the umbrella and stood under it.

"That's the best you can do?" Wyn asked. She turned to Karen. "Is it just me, or can you still see him?"

"I can see him. He faded, but I can still see his outline," Karen replied, glancing up from her washing.

"There's not enough shadow!" Seth protested, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Of course there is!" Wyn walked over and stood under the umbrella. "Go stand where I was," she ordered.

Annoyed, Seth stalked over. Wyn stood for a moment, then spoke. "Still see me?"

"Yes," Seth replied, holding back a chuckle at her failed attempts to best him. She hadn't even "faded" as Karen had put it.

Karen, who was next to him, glanced at Seth after peering at the shade under the umbrella for a while. "What are you talking about? She completely disappeared!"

"No she didn't," Seth said, looking from the cat to Wyn, who he could still see perfectly fine.

Wyn walked towards Seth and stopped next to Karen. "Interesting," the not-disappeared Shadow Charmer said. The orange cat jumped.

"I hate when you do that!" Karen growled in annoyance and began licking down her ruffled fur.

"Alright, fine, sorry," Wyn conceded.

"What happened? And what's interesting?" Seth asked.

"I couldn't see her. Couldn't hear her, either, until she spoke," Karen said, shooting Wyn a halfhearted glare.

"But you could see me," Wyn said. "That's what's interesting. Have you had milk today?"

"Yeah," Seth said. "I have some everyday. How could you _not_ see her?"

"But I've had some milk today, too," Karen put in. "And could could you not _not_ see her?"

"What?" Seth shook his head in exasperation, and Karen seemed to smirk – to the best of a cat's ability – when she knew she'd won.

"Mm, 'Kay." Wyn thought for a moment. "I think you can see through others' shade walking. That's a useful gift. Good job, you have one out of a million parts of you that is useful." Wyn smiled cheerfully at Seth.

"Oh, thank you," he huffed sarcastically.

"You're welcome," Wyn replied brightly. "Anyway, we need to work on your shade walking before we work on projections. Go back over to the umbrella. We'll start there."

For the next couple of hours, Seth spent his time glaring at either Wyn, the ground, or Karen, just so he could have something to glare at. It was one of those moments when you thought you finally had something right, and then someone has to go about telling you to shut up and listen because you were off by a long shot and had a buttload of work to do still.

The lecture that Wyn gave him was short and easy. But it was also one of those things that was easier said than done. Wyn kept telling Seth to absorb the shadows and melt into the shade.

Two and a half hours later, Wyn turned to Karen, who was napping on the porch railing, and suddenly yelled, "Hoy! Cat!"

"What?" Karen opened her eyes and stretched, nearly falling off the railing in the process but managing to catch herself. She glanced over to the umbrella. "Where's Seth?"

"You can't see him, can you?" Wyn said happily, motioning with a flourish of the hands towards Seth, who was standing under the umbrella.

"He's over there? He got it?" At Wyn's nod, Karen called over, "Good job, Seth!" Seth noticed her gaze wasn't exact on him – a little to the right, looking right past him.

"You really can't see me?" Seth asked. After all this work, it was a little hard to accept he'd finally gotten it, and that it wasn't just Wyn getting fed up with dealing with him.

"Now, become visible now. We need to move on," Wyn said, over her moment of excitement. She pulled a hair tie from around her wrist and began putting her hair up in a ponytail.

"How?" Seth asked.

"The same way you become invisible?" Karen offered, her tone slightly sarcastic. Wyn shot the band at the cat. Karen yelped and glared at Wyn as the hair tie connected with her flank. "Okay, okay, maybe not."

"Bring me my scrunchie," Wyn ordered the orange creature. She turned to Seth. "Just stop focusing on becoming invisible. It might be kinda tough, since you don't realize you were focusing on it until you stop."

"That's helpful," Seth retorted, sarcasm slipping into his tone. He still listened, though. The Shadow Charmer-in-training focused on not focusing, and, though it took a while, he eventually became visible to Wyn and Karen again.

"Oh, good," Wyn said, noticing his reappearance. "Took long enough."

Seth simply crossed his arms over his chest and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "So what now?"

"Now, we work on projection. If you can do it, that is." Wyn paused. "Think of something."

"Like what?"

"Anything. A purple monkey. Something along those lines. But something simple. Something you can easily imagine – something you know and can recreate in your mind. And try not to make it too big," Wyn frowned slightly in thought, then she focused on Seth again. "Then do the same mental process you used for shade walking in light places, but don't finish it. Just let the shadows flow through you. After that, focus on not focusing on disappearing, as if you were trying to reappear. But instead of just cutting off the ties with the shadows and shutting them out, push them forward."

"That made very little sense," Seth replied after attempting to process the whole thing.

"It's because you're dull," Wyn said immediately, as if she didn't even process what he said, like she expected him to say something like that and knew his response.

"How do you do that?" Seth asked.

"Do what? Projecting?"

"No. Answer me before I've even finished my sentence."

"That's impossible. I can't read your mind. Your request has been denied."

Seth held himself back from throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation. "That's not what I meant."

"What did you mean then?" Wyn raised an eyebrow at him.

"Never mind."

"Alright, I'll delete the information in my mind about finishing sentences before answering."

Seth slapped his hand to his forehead.

"No, wait. It was the other way around. Answering before finishing sentences." Wyn shrugged. "Well, now that info is gone too. Anyway, let's move on. Projecting. Watch."

Wyn closed her eyes and held her hands out, palms facing the gray sky. Seth peered at her for a little, and he thought he saw a shimmer in the air about her palms, but it didn't really do much. Even though he stared at her hands, nothing happened.

And then he noticed that Wyn wasn't there anymore.

Instead, stood a nearly six-foot tall figure with a long dark dress, silver hair, full lips that were blood-red, pale skin, feline green eyes, and, finally, fangs digging into her lower lip. Seth took a small step back. Wyn's simple t-shirt and shorts had been replaced with flowing black dress and had no sleeves and reminded Seth of Ephira's gown with its snaking tendrils made to darken and corrupt.

"What just happened?" Seth muttered. He took another step back and wondered if the creature before him was evil. Or if it was even Wyn anymore.

"Oh, it's wonderful to do this again," Wyn sang cheerfully, her voice not quite fitting the body she'd been absorbed into. It was deeper though, more eloquent and formal. "Karen and Lana never let me do this elsewhere. They say it scares the humans too much if I get caught. Not that I do."

"You're talking as if I'm not right next to you," Karen growled playfully.

"So, that's projection?" Seth asked after getting over his hesitation. "I turn into a vampire?"

"Not quite." The figure's whole body flickered for a moment and Wyn's form took shape as the image of the vampire faded into shadows until it disappeared altogether. "You _project_ the image of whatever you want to over your own body. Obviously, what I did was more advanced. You're using shadows, so colors are hard to come by. And I've known how to project for years, so I'm really fast at it."

"So you're saying I'm going to be horrible at this?"

"Yup."

Seth glared at Wyn.

Karen piped up, "Hey, at least she was honest. Better than what I usually get out of her."

Wyn turned, and, in the blink of an eye, a dog the size of a human was growling inches away from Karen's face.

The cat blinked at the giant creature. "Sit boy," she said, snickering. "You overuse the hellhound thing. I got used to it." She prodded the dog's nose with a paw and the image disappeared.

Wyn stood in from of Karen and crossed her arms over her chest. Karen purred and added to Wyn's earlier explanations: "It's also a lot harder to give the creature physical form. Only the best projectionists can aptly fight with their imaginary figures."

"And don't get too detailed. Not with your skill. An animal, not human. Someone could get hurt, namely you," Wyn put in.

"Oh thank you," Seth quipped sarcastically. "Okay, so how does this work? I need further detail. Information that might actually _help_ me."

"Just think of the creature you want to be. Or, more accurately, the figure you wish to assume." Wyn paused in her speech and thought for a moment. "How do I describe this. . . Do what I said earlier – push the shadows through you rather than cutting them off – and then. . . Imagine yourself become something else. Work out all the sharp edges in your mind, smooth out the shadows so they take form. It'll feel weird at first, like your body is actually being morphed, but you'll get used to it. Just remember it's not real."

"Okay. . . Do I have to hold my hands out?"

"No," Wyn replied, leaning against the porch railing. "I just do that for effect."

"Become a cat," Karen suggested. "I mean, a large one, not the domestic kind."

Seth thought for a moment and decided to go with the first wildcat to come to mind: a leopard. It took him a while to get the first part. He kept slamming the shadows away, using his mind to protect his body because that's what he knew to do out of habit. After a little, though, he began to drift away from the shadows rather than cut them off completely. He still felt them there, just a little taste of shadows, but shadows all the same.

Closing his eye, Seth pictured a beige leopard with deep, dark spots covering it. It was lean, muscled, with large paws and a long tail. Two large brown eyes blinked curiously, accented by a dark outline on the fur around the chocolate orbs. Then he imagined himself becoming the leopard – his legs and arms thickening, become more muscled, his skin fading away to be replaced by patterned fur, his face changing, elongating, and his hair disappearing and cat ears forming there.

Imagining it was easy. It was the pain that almost made Seth fail as soon as he finally got it. He gritted his teeth against the agony, but soon learned that it hurt more to do so as his gums seemed to stretch to accommodate the larger fangs of a leopard. _It's not real,_ Seth had to repeat in his head. But it sure _felt_ real.

And then it was over. There was no soreness or lingering nerves on fire, as Seth would've assumed had he actually experienced the feeling. He found he could move without pain, and then, opening his eyes, discovered he was a leopard.

"Good job," Wyn said, honestly sounding somewhat impressed. "You even got the color. Kinda."

Looking down at the paws beneath him, Seth saw he had gotten it right, kind of. He was a yellow leopard with red spots. "Close enough," he said, his voice rumbling oddly as he spoke, the words coming out half-morphed into a purr or growl.

"Yeah, that's the tough part," Wyn said. "Getting used to the differences. You don't have all the attributes of the thing you turn into. You don't have the hearing of a leopard, or the eyesight. Or the speed or strength or ability to smell. You only appear as one, but your body thinks you're a leopard, so speaking is hard. You're tricking your brain into thinking it's something else. Along with that comes instincts and quirks of the mind of the thing you become."

"So you mean," Seth started. He paused to lick his teeth, trying to grapple with his throat and tongue to make them work. "Like, if I turned into a vampire, I'd have the instinct to drink blood and stay out of the sunlight – assuming vampires don't sparkle, as some people believe – but I wouldn't actually need to drink blood or turn to dust in daytime?"

"Yeah, that's about it. So if you have the urge to prey on your idiot satyr friends, go ahead."

"Hey!" Seth protested, his voice sounding like a roar of some sort as the leopard part of his mind won. "I would neve–"

Wyn cut him off: "And you've read Twilight?"

"One gets bored sometimes. One invades his sister's bedroom while she'd off smooching with a unicorn. One finds Twilight. It's a perfectly natural occurrence," trying to look as indignant as a leopard could look while still . . . being a leopard.

"Seriously?"

"Shut up," Seth growled, literally. "Now how do I get back to myself."

"You could tell someone get rid of it for you. Like what Karen did earlier when I became a hellhound, but you can't always count on that," Wyn said. "Not when you have a physical appearance, and if you're good enough, the figure reforms, even when someone disrupts it. It's really similar to what you did to project the new form, except backwards. Imagine yourself going back to, ya know, yourself."

"Right," Seth said.

So, he worked on moving back into himself, and, once again, his body screamed with pain. But then he was himself again, and, aside from a few tingling nerves, he felt nothing.

The fact Seth had gotten projecting right on basically the first try had made him forget he'd meant to get mad at Wyn for forgetting to mention that certain aspect of the skill. "You tricked me," he accused her, as soon as he figured out he wouldn't purr like a leopard when he spoke.

"How so?" Why asked, collecting her phone from the porch and walking into the house. She left the door open and Karen and Seth followed.

"You forgot to mention it hurt when projecting."

"Does it?" Wyn said sweetly, moving into the kitchen. "I'm famished."

"It does," Seth said, standing in the doorway of the kitchen with his arms crossed and ignoring the second part of Wyn's response.

"It doesn't always. It's good though. It means you have an aptitude for projecting, considering your first time was painful. Usually it's the other way. People can do it without hurting, but as they get better, it starts to take its toll on their body, then fades later. It means you skipped the first part and went straight to the 'as they get better' part."

"Did that happen for you, too?" Seth asked, his anger fading as he learned it was a good thing. At least partly.

"I don't remember, actually," Wyn said, rummaging through the fridge for some jelly to make a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich. "I was too young. I started to learn when I was nearly four."

"Oh," Seth said. And, for the first time, he wondered what it was like for his mentor, growing up. Obviously Wyn and Lana were skilled; Stan wouldn't have chosen them as teachers otherwise. However, it seemed like they hadn't really had any past at all. Neither of them had even mentioned where they'd arrived from before Bracken took them here. And now, all of the sudden, he wanted to know. He was _curious_.

Seth walked over to the counter. "Pass the bread."

**. . . **

**Alright, so, I stopped a lot throughout this, and a have a feeling the tone/diction will change a bit. Anyway, I thought that was a sweet ending. No, there's no romantic relationship between Wyn and Seth, and there's not going to be. It's an adventure story, with Seth as the main character. It's going to [attempt] to be humorous and the only romance will be Bracken and Kendra. Not much, at that. Go read Gamehaven if you want love triangles.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, and please review. c; **


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